Speaker to verify signatures on Hamza’s application

Signatures of 13 MPAs fail to match original records

LAHORE: Just as the PML-N is in a battle to fill the slot of the president of Pakistan, it faces another challenge in appointing outgoing chief minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son, Hamza Shehbaz, as leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly.

The notification of his appointment has been delayed after it emerged that 13 signatures on his nomination papers did not match those of the records available with the provincial assembly. Well-placed sources revealed that the signatures of 13 MPAs did not match those on the PA’s roll call/attendance register. They continued that the MPAs had been called verify whether these signatures belonged to them or were forged by someone else.

On August 24, PML-N’s Khawaja Imran Nazir, the former minister for primary and secondary health, submitted the requisition list of 161 MPAs who signed off on Hamza Shehbaz Sharif being declared the opposition leader. Out of the 161, 20 had not signed in the column where their signatures were required. In addition, one of the names had been crossed out. Of the remaining 140 members, there were seven whose signatures differed prominently from their originals, while the signatures of the other six varied slightly.



A reliable source in the PA confirmed that the process of issuing the notification had been halted until the 13 MPAs in question verified their signatures. The source stated that the signatures of parliamentarians were matched with those on the roll call register when they were called for the first time to mark attendance after taking oath. He said some seemed forged and did not match the actual signatures of the members concerned.

The source claimed these signatures seemed to have been done by the same person, thus the need for a complete investigation into the matter. The members will be asked, in writing, to reach the Punjab Assembly for verification.

Only after the signatures are found correct would a further procedure be initiated to issue the notification to appoint the opposition leader, the source claimed.

When contacted, PML-N’s Khawaja Imran Nazir said delaying tactics were being used in issuing the notification of Hamza Shehbaz Sharif as opposition leader. He pointed out that on occasion, the signatures of people did not match on different cheques. “Does that mean we are signing false cheques?” he asked.



The former minister said he was at a loss to understand why the 13 aforementioned members were not accommodated and excluded from the requisite list. He questioned why the notification was not being issued despite the PML-N being in opposition. He said the department concerned should play an impartial instead of tilting towards a specific party.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2018.